The main role of the Children's Registry is to receive reports of children who have been, are being or are likely to be abandoned, neglected, physically or sexually ill-treated, or are otherwise in need of care and protection. After receiving these reports, the Children's Registry records, assesses and then refers the reports to the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA) for their investigation and action.

The Children's Registry also serves as a repository where statistics on incidences of child abuse in Jamaica may be found and used to inform operational and child friendly policies and guidelines. In addition, through regular monitoring of the trends, the Registrar will be able to indicate which types of services are needed and where they are needed.

Since its inception, the Registry has been playing an integral role in capturing incidences of child abuse. By providing a single, centralized point to which reports should be made the Children's Registry facilitates the following:

Improved confidentiality and a reduced risk of information leakage

Quicker response times to children in need of care and protection

Increased reporting of child abuse and maltreatment.

A centralized source of information and statistics on child abuse and related issues.

The Ananda Alert Systemis Jamaica's Child Recovery Strategy which was modeled off the Amber Alert System in the United States of America (USA)

Ananda Alert Secretariat was originally established in the Ministry of Local Government, however, since March 01, 2013 was first transferred to the Ministry of Youth and Culture and then the Ministy of Education Youth and Information. At present the Ananda Alert System is being operated from the National Children's Registry - NCR (formerly the Office of the Children's Registry - OCR), a department witin the Child Protection and Family Services Agency. The NCR has been able to forge alliances with the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), Missing Person Call Centre (MPCC) and a few media houses in publicizing information on missing and recovered children.